


Lazy Sunday

by PotionsMistressM



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-26
Updated: 2012-05-26
Packaged: 2017-11-06 00:59:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/412958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PotionsMistressM/pseuds/PotionsMistressM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regina is busy, and Henry decides to spend his day with Emma.  Written for the lyrics inspiration challenge at onceuponaland at LJ.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lazy Sunday

xXx _Lazy Sunday, wake up in the late afternoon_ xXx

"Hey, Emma," Henry greeted brightly. "Good... morning?" The boy narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. Emma glanced at Henry, then down at herself. His pounding on the door had woken her, and she stood in front of him wearing the old, pale gray tank top she'd worn the day before, yellowish-brown rings under the arms telling the well-loved shirt's age, and a pair of ancient, green plaid short shorts she didn't remember buying but couldn't remember _not_ owning. And no bra. Crossing her arms over her chest, Emma took a deep, just-woke-up type of breath, and shifted her eyes to the clock.

"Holy sh-- oot," she exclaimed, catching herself just in time. Of all the things she'd had to change when hanging out with Henry, watching her language was proving to be the most difficult. She did slip sometimes, and when she did Henry would laugh- a sound that filled her with unnameable pride for just a split second. When she swore, she could tell Henry thought she was a rebel, a badass, and though it felt unfathomably good to earn his approval, being "the cool one" was something to be reserved for aunts or particularly cool babysitters. If she was going to be his mom, she needed to be his mom- not this swearing, sweat-stained-t-shirt-wearing, not-waking-up-until-two-PM person standing in front of him now. "Sorry, Henry," she continued. "Didn't realize I'd slept so late. Come on in."

Henry entered the apartment and planted his ever-present backpack onto the couch cushion next to him. While he situated himself, Emma turned to the counter, quickly scanning a note telling her that Mary Margaret had gone out grocery shopping (... _explains why she didn't answer the door_...) and grabbing a ponytail holder to try and contain her sleep-tangled rat's nest. Out of the corner of her eye she spied one of Mary Margaret's many, many cardigans hanging abandoned on the back of a bar stool and grabbed it, wrapping it around her much-too-exposed chest before turning back to Henry.

"So what's up, Kid?"

Henry shrugged, his legs swinging back and forth, kicking the the couch on the downswing. "My mom has stuff to do all day. I thought maybe we could hang out." His little face was so hopeful and so sincere, and even though Emma would have given anything to just lie on the couch with a Lifetime movie and a pint of ice cream she felt herself melt a little bit. Still, she had to be certain there were no ulterior motives going on.

"Does this have anything to do with Operation Cobra?" Henry shrugged again and shook his head.

"It doesn't have to. I thought maybe we could go to the movies."

Emma considered briefly before nodding.

"Give me ten minutes to get ready."

xXx _No doubt, that bakery has got all the bomb frostings, I love those cupcakes like McAdams loves Gosling_ xXx

She may be pushing thirty, but Emma still spoke Kid pretty well, and she new all too well what Henry's seemingly innocuous, "Are you hungry?" meant. And that was how the two of them had ended up at Granny's enjoying a pre-movie, post-breakfast snack of cupcakes and cinnamon-covered hot chocolate. Bribing the boy with sugar might be a low blow, and the more her war with Regina raged on the more Emma felt like the absentee father after a divorce ( _Oh, your mom won't let you have snacks? Well, when you're with_ me _you can have all the cupcakes you want_ ), but if she was still fluent in Kid, she was also still able to guiltlessly eat like a kid. She wasn't even trying to be healthy today, and as Henry blew bubbles through his whipped cream, Emma pulled her double chocolate cake apart and started dunking it in her drink, scooping up a healthy dose of whipped cream and cinnamon with it.

"You know," Henry began, his mouth now full of vanilla cupcake, strawberry frosting smeared across his lips, "I've been thinking about Mr. Gold..." Emma held her hand up in a _halt_ gesture and kept it hanging there in the air until she finished chewing.

"No Operation Cobra. Not today. Today is Henry and Emma day. We can talk about Operation Cobra again starting tomorrow." Henry nodded, munching merrily.

"K," he responded, his voice thick around unchewed cupcake. A few more bites and he swallowed the last of his cake and smiled, smears of pink frosting staining his teeth. "I like the sound of Henry and Emma day." Emma couldn't help but smile back, and the pair finished their cocoa in a comfortable, amiable silence. As they stood up, Emma checked her watch and grimaced. 

"We gotta go, Kid. The movie starts in fifteen minutes, and we've got to stop at the drug store beforehand. You a previews kinda guy or not?" Henry beamed.

"I like getting there as early as possible. If you miss the roller coaster, you miss _everything_." Emma turned to him after paying Ruby and high-fived him.

"That is exactly the way I feel. Movies are the only thing I'm ever early to." Well, maybe there was something to be said for genetics.

xXx _Yo, stop at the deli, the theater's overpriced. You got the backpack, gonna pack it up nice_ xXx

The bell attached to the drug store's door chimed quietly, and Emma nodded to the pharmacist- who promptly turned his face into his sleeve and sneezed. Henry tugged on her arm.

"You know who he is?" he whispered. Emma gave him a semi-serious warning look and fake-scowled. "I know, I know. Henry and Emma day." He finished with a decisive nod and followed her lead as she wandered the aisles. 

"So what do you want?" Henry looked at her quizzically, but soon she turned down an aisle that was very familiar to him. "We've got chocolate, fruity, chewy, sour..."

"You're going to sneak candy into the theater? Isn't that illegal? Aren't you the sheriff?" Emma held a finger to her lips.

'It's not like we're not going to pay for the candy. We're just not going to pay ten bucks for an Apollo bar at the theater." Now it was Henry's turn to scowl.

"But... you're not _allowed_..."

"Are you honestly telling me you've _never_ snuck candy into the theater? Come on, everybody does that! I've known people who worked at theaters who sneak candy in!" She supposed she _was_ setting a bad example, and technically you _weren't_ supposed to bring outside food into the theater, but seriously? On the scale of awful precedents to set, movie-candy-smuggling ranked as way less offensive as, say, shooting up in front of the kid. 

"I... just... well, my mom doesn't really like me to have too many snacks. Except for apples." Emma rolled her eyes so violently she nearly gave herself a headache. Maybe if the kid was allowed a freaking Snickers every once in a while he wouldn't be so easily influenced by the promise of sugary goodness. Then again, sugar bribery was almost the only power she had over him at the moment.

"Look, Henry, I'm going to get some candy- and maybe even a Coke. You can get something too if you want, but we've gotta hurry. Don't want to miss the roller coaster." Henry grinned, his resolve broken, and he grabbed an Apollo bar, a small bag of Cheetos, and a bottle of Cherry Coke. Emma made her selections and added them to Henry's on the counter, and after paying, she took the drug store's plastic bag and shoved it into Henry's backpack, nestled safely against his book.

"Oh, I see how it is. Make the kid do all your dirty work." Emma grinned, throwing her arm around his shoulder and letting out a melodramatically evil laugh. 

"You've learned my darkest secret, now you know I'll have to kill you."

"Obviously."

xXx _We're about to get taken to a dream world of magic_ xXx

The movie Henry chose was, predictably, a fantasy/adventure, and she could tell from the tiny glimpses she caught of his face when the action on the screen lit up the dark room that he was deeply engrossed. The film was a little heavy on the magical elements for Emma's liking, but there was enough butt-kicking going on to keep her from being completely bored. The plot was ridiculous, and the acting was just this side of community theater, but Henry was loving every minute, and that was enough to make Emma happy. She zoned out a bit as the sappy romantic subplot unfolded, thoughts of magic, for once, running through her head. She thought about the curse, and what it would mean for her- for everyone in Storybrooke- if it were actually true. It wasn't, of course, but if it was...

She pondered the mundane things, the details that would never have entered Henry's mind. This movie, for example. Storybrooke's tiny four screen cinema always got new, current movies. But if no one came into Storybrooke, how did that happen? For that matter, how did the city's cable, internet, or phones work? How did residents register their cars? She'd seen posters for the Maine lottery in the drug store. If the curse was real, how would that work? And what about politics? She knew for a fact that Mary Margaret was registered to vote, but if the curse did what it was supposed to do, would it _ever_ be election year in Storybrooke? Weird. Emma shook her head and smirked to herself. Why would any of these little details matter? The curse was nonsense to begin with. Everyone knew that magic wasn't real- had never been real.

But turning to look at Henry once again, Emma's heart thawed just the tiniest bit. She slouched in her chair, sinking down to Henry's level and stealing a Cheeto from his open bag. Her son turned toward her ( _Her son... holy crap..._ ) and grinned.

Maybe there was just a little bit of magic in Storybrooke after all.

**Author's Note:**

>  **A/N** :: I don't know if Regal Cinemas are national, but they have a roller coaster animation that comes on before every movie. It's cheesy, but it's also amazing, and everyone I know loves it. Plus, I like making the Storybrooke theater a "Regal." Think it fits. ;)


End file.
